Noise/Experimental music: can someone explain it to me?

Machine · 05-21-2015, 07:25 PM

To me noise and expiremental music is best listened to when I'm looking to be disturbed not by a poet or songwriter and their daily turmoil, but instead through sound. I like music that's ugly and twisted so noise music really fits the bill for me. Like listening to Totem by White Suns in a pitch black room with my eyes wide open and volume all the way up was an absolutely brutal expirience and one I don't think I'll be able to recreate with the same magic. Like a bunch of people have said before me, it's less about the structure or visibility of the piece, but instead the overwhelming apocalyptic nature a lot of harsh noise music can grasp. Where I'll listen to punk to get out energy, or listen to pop when I'm happy, I listen to noise when I want something that hurts that actually forms a negitive reaction inside of me. Call it masochistic, but it works.

Trollheart · 05-22-2015, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Machine

To me noise and expiremental music is best listened to when I'm looking to be disturbed not by a poet or songwriter and their daily turmoil, but instead through sound. I like music that's ugly and twisted so noise music really fits the bill for me. Like listening to Totem by White Suns in a pitch black room with my eyes wide open and volume all the way up was an absolutely brutal expirience and one I don't think I'll be able to recreate with the same magic. Like a bunch of people have said before me, it's less about the structure or visibility of the piece, but instead the overwhelming apocalyptic nature a lot of harsh noise music can grasp. Where I'll listen to punk to get out energy, or listen to pop when I'm happy, I listen to noise when I want something that hurts that actually forms a negitive reaction inside of me. Call it masochistic, but it works.

See, that literally never happens to me. I have never been, nor ever expect to be, in a position where I want music (for want of another phrase) so loud and abrasive and atonal that it hurts me. I don't enjoy it, and since there's no melody in this anyway, if I for some reason did want that, why not go listen to a guy use an angle grinder on sheet metal for hours?

DeadChannel · 05-21-2015, 07:38 PM

I agree with most what's been posted, but I want to add that a lot of this stuff takes some aclimating to. For instance, Eric Dolphy aside, most people have to work up to something like free jazz. Most people don't like Peter Brotzman at first because they lack the context to interpret it. More often than not, you revisit a piece that you originally found really insurmountable, and you end up finding to not be a big deal.

You just need to exercise those mental music muscles for this type of stuff. A lot.

Machine · 05-21-2015, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadChannel

I agree with most what's been posted, but I want to add that a lot of this stuff takes some aclimating to. For instance, Eric Dolphy aside, most people have to work up to something like free jazz. Most people dony

Honestly I'm still not completely sure on free jazz and I've tried for a while, there's some I really love and then other stuff that I can't help but burst out laughing when I hear it.

Aux-In · 05-22-2015, 06:10 PM

Trollheart, do you like the sound of someone cutting grass with a mower? That is nothing but loud noise, but it's one of those "life noises" that I enjoy because it evokes images and scenery in my brain that I wouldn't otherwise get from silence. Sometimes those types of sounds, as well as other types of sounds found in nature (I think that was mentioned to you previously) can be enjoyable to listen to because they can take you to a different place...provoking images in your brain just from the sound alone. In that sense, it would be using the music to evoke the feeling, which is somewhat different from simply listening to music because it sounds good to your ear. City sounds would be the same.

Trollheart · 05-23-2015, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aux-in

Trollheart, do you like the sound of someone cutting grass with a mower? That is nothing but loud noise, but it's one of those "life noises" that I enjoy because it evokes images and scenery in my brain that I wouldn't otherwise get from silence. Sometimes those types of sounds, as well as other types of sounds found in nature (I think that was mentioned to you previously) can be enjoyable to listen to because they can take you to a different place...provoking images in your brain just from the sound alone. In that sense, it would be using the music to evoke the feeling, which is somewhat different from simply listening to music because it sounds good to your ear. City sounds would be the same.

Sometimes. If it's in the distance it can be nice, if it's next door it can be annoying As I say, I listen to plenty of non-music noise, but I don't like loud, discordant, abrasive noise. I wouldn't for instance lean out of my window and listen to the raucous cry of a magpie, someone bawling drunkenly in the street (yes, this is Ireland!) or somebody smashing glass with a hammer...

DeadChannel · 05-21-2015, 07:47 PM

Hey, sorry about accidentally sending the post before it was finished. I edited it now.

Personally, I'm not super into free jazz, although I have a few favourites that I regularly spin. I haven't listened to as much jazz as I'd like though. Although, recently I went on a binge that got me into a few things.

Machine · 05-21-2015, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadChannel

Hey, sorry about accidentally sending the post before it was finished. I edited it now.

Personally, I'm not super into free jazz, although I have a few favourites that I regularly spin. I haven't listened to as much jazz as I'd like though. Although, recently I went on a binge that got me into a few things.

That's basically how I am

innerspaceboy · 05-22-2015, 06:21 PM

TH, I enjoy experimental music for the cerebral engagement of it all. It's music you interact with, perhaps consciously and deliberately the first few times, and perhaps later just existing in the environment of the sounds. Try a piece like pianoforte by Dick Raaijmakers (aka Kid Baltan) and Tom Dissevelt. It's a treated piano composition, and they really explore the range of sounds once can create with the instrument.

The more familiar you become with the piece, the more key sounds or clusters of sounds develop a logical and concrete identity in your memory - you'll find yourself waiting for specific crescendos or rests. But remember - it's just a bunch of noise, right?

Josef K · 05-23-2015, 08:47 AM

I like stuff that sounds cool.

05-21-2015, 07:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
Machine moon lake inc. Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Detroit Posts: 2,125	To me noise and expiremental music is best listened to when I'm looking to be disturbed not by a poet or songwriter and their daily turmoil, but instead through sound. I like music that's ugly and twisted so noise music really fits the bill for me. Like listening to Totem by White Suns in a pitch black room with my eyes wide open and volume all the way up was an absolutely brutal expirience and one I don't think I'll be able to recreate with the same magic. Like a bunch of people have said before me, it's less about the structure or visibility of the piece, but instead the overwhelming apocalyptic nature a lot of harsh noise music can grasp. Where I'll listen to punk to get out energy, or listen to pop when I'm happy, I listen to noise when I want something that hurts that actually forms a negitive reaction inside of me. Call it masochistic, but it works. __________________ boost my ego listen to me stroke my delay pedal ever wanted to hear death grips songs... but they're acoustic? me neither.

05-21-2015, 07:38 PM	#3 (permalink)
DeadChannel Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Canada Posts: 1,259	I agree with most what's been posted, but I want to add that a lot of this stuff takes some aclimating to. For instance, Eric Dolphy aside, most people have to work up to something like free jazz. Most people don't like Peter Brotzman at first because they lack the context to interpret it. More often than not, you revisit a piece that you originally found really insurmountable, and you end up finding to not be a big deal. You just need to exercise those mental music muscles for this type of stuff. A lot. Last edited by DeadChannel; 05-21-2015 at 07:43 PM.

05-22-2015, 06:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Trollheart, do you like the sound of someone cutting grass with a mower? That is nothing but loud noise, but it's one of those "life noises" that I enjoy because it evokes images and scenery in my brain that I wouldn't otherwise get from silence. Sometimes those types of sounds, as well as other types of sounds found in nature (I think that was mentioned to you previously) can be enjoyable to listen to because they can take you to a different place...provoking images in your brain just from the sound alone. In that sense, it would be using the music to evoke the feeling, which is somewhat different from simply listening to music because it sounds good to your ear. City sounds would be the same. __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans."

05-21-2015, 07:47 PM	#7 (permalink)
DeadChannel Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Canada Posts: 1,259	Hey, sorry about accidentally sending the post before it was finished. I edited it now. Personally, I'm not super into free jazz, although I have a few favourites that I regularly spin. I haven't listened to as much jazz as I'd like though. Although, recently I went on a binge that got me into a few things.

05-23-2015, 08:47 AM	#10 (permalink)
Josef K A Jew on a motorbike! Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 800	I like stuff that sounds cool.